On Thursday, April 21st, Victoria Barrett, a Fellow with the Alliance for Climate Education will address over 600 heads of state and other world leaders at the UN to encourage them to work towards achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted in 2015. The SDGs include range from fighting gender inequality to hunger and include multiple green initiatives, including climate action, sustainable cities and clean energy.

Victoria will represent young people across the world in speaking about the impact the SDGs could have on her generation, helping to create a healthier and more just future: "The world needs a central theme to focus on--one that brings us together. The Sustainable Development Goals give us a platform to build a movement. They are poised to be the most important goals in United Nations history and give me hope that the world will come together to solve climate change. In 2030, when these goals will be met, I will be 31 years old. I may have a family, and I want to be able to tell my children I did all that I could, that we did all that we could."

Victoria, a student at the Notre Dame School of Manhattan, has been engaged and active in human rights and climate activism work throughout high school. In late 2015, she spoke at United Nations Headquarters in New York on a panel, Youth At The Forefront: Bridging the Gap Between Climate Change and Climate Action, in the lead-up to her trip to the Paris Climate Talks with ACE in December 2015. Bloomberg News named Victoria one of the top 10 attendees to watch in Paris. Earlier in 2015, Victoria became a plaintiff in a landmark lawsuit holding the US government accountable for the effects of climate change on her generation through ACE’s partner, Our Children’s Trust. The lawsuit and Victoria’s story have picked up momentum in recent months attracting the attention of national media.

In addition to her work nationally and globally, Victoria is highly engaged in local climate activism work in New York. She helped organize youth for the historic People’s Climate March that drew more than 400,000 people, and co-designed a campaign asking that the New York City Schools Chancellor, Carmen Fariña, mandate climate education in all K-12 NYC Public Schools.

More about Alliance for Climate Education (ACE)ACE has a mission to educate young people about the science of climate change and empower them to take action. Their innovative climate education and leadership programs have reached 2 million youth across the United States. Learn more at acespace.org.